VIRGINIA TECH WON. Thursday night's primetime showdown between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech had the feel of an elimination game. For the last six years, the winner of the annual ACC Coastal showdown has gone on to represent the division in the ACC Championship Game. The road has now been cleared for the Hokies, after pulling away with a 37-26 victory in Atlanta on Thursday.

HOW VIRGINIA TECH WON: In a game between opponents that know each other as well as the Hokies and Yellow Jackets do, sometimes it just comes down to execution. The Hokies converted on more than half of their third downs, and both of their huge fourth down attempts to keep scoring drives alive when the Yellow Jackets had them stopped.

Virginia Tech was led by quarterback Logan Thomas, who threw for 209 yards through the air and added 76 yards on the ground for a combined five touchdown performance. David Wilson added yet another impressive outing to his growing ACC Player of the Year resume, with 23 carries for 169 yards. Georgia Tech committed only two penalties, but none were more deciding than the 15 yard personal foul on Jeremiah Attaochu for throwing a punch after sacking Logan Thomas. If the sack stands, Georgia Tech likely heads into the fourth quarter with the lead. Instead the Hokies marched down the field and took a 27-26 lead before the end of the third on a Thomas touchdown run.

WHEN VIRGINIA TECH WON: After the aforementioned Logan Thomas go-ahead touchdown, the Yellow Jackets were stuffed on 4th and 1 from their own 31. Paul Johnson has a tendency to pull the trigger on fourth down, but Tevin Washington's failed sneak resulted in the rare "four and out." The Hokies used almost four minutes of fourth quarter clock getting those 31 yards, finally scoring a touchdown on a pass from Thomas to defensive end-turned-tight end Chris Drager to extend Virginia Tech's lead to 34-26.

WHAT VIRGINIA TECH WON: A clear road to the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte. With the Georgia Tech win, Virginia is the only team that can stand between the Hokies and their fifth trip to the conference title game in the last seven years. The Hokies still need to face North Carolina next week before their annual meeting with the in-state Cavaliers, but remain a game up heading into the weekend.

WHAT GEORGIA TECH LOST: After the thrilling upset of undefeated Clemson and a week off to get healthy, the Yellow Jackets are already eliminated from the ACC Coastal race. Much of the blame can be placed on the loss to Virginia earlier in the season, but Thursday night's home loss to the Hokies sealed their fate.

THAT WAS CRAZY: Both teams boast strong running games, but the quarterbacks did all the work around the goal line on Thursday night. Logan Thomas and Tevin Washington combined all five of the game's rushing touchdowns, including quarterback sneaks from 1, 2, even 11 (yes, it was a sneak that went 11 yards) yards out. It was crazy.

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